Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the main event!

In this corner, standing 6-foot-10, weighing in at 251 pounds, wearing the crimson jersey — Blake Griffin.

In the other corner, also standing 6-foot-10, weighing 230 pounds, wearing the white jersey — Craig Brakins.

This Saturday’s game between Iowa State and Oklahoma will pit two of the conference’s premier players against one another in Griffin and Brackins.

Griffin leads the Big 12 with 22.3 points and 14 rebounds per game.

“This year in particular, it just seems like the guy doesn’t get tired,” ISU coach Greg McDermott said. “He plays so hard on both ends of the floor, and you could argue that he runs the floor better than any big guy in the country.”

Brackins is close behind Griffin, ranking second with 19.6 ppg, and fourth with 9.1 rpg.

The duo have combined for seven Big 12 player of the week awards this year with Griffin getting four and Brackins receiving the honor three times. In fact, they are the only players in the conference who have won the award more than once this season. Brackins said he is not concerned with getting more awards than Griffin.

This is not the first time that the two players have met. Last season, Brackins and Griffin met in Norman during a 76-64 Sooner victory. Brackins managed just six points and three rebounds. Griffin pulled down 13 and eight rebounds.

“That doesn’t hardly seem possible the way [Griffin] is playing this year,” McDermott said. “He has just really elevated his game, his conditioning is at another level, his skill level has greatly improved, and he is picking apart a lot of double teams, and making his teammates better along with the great numbers that he has been able to put up.”

McDermott acknowledged that it is unlikely that the Cyclones will be able to shut Griffin down, but he does want to make Griffin work as much as possible.

“Just put a body on him, and block him out every play so he can’t get those tip-ins that he likes to get,” freshmen center Justin Hamilton said. “Just make sure he can’t get close to the basket.”

Last year, Brackins and the Cyclones played another phenomenal forward in Michael Beasley, now with the Miami Heat.

“I think Beasley in more versatile then Blake Griffin, but he is very athletic,” Brackins said. “He is more of a banger, I think, than Beasley was.”

But physicality isn’t the only difference between Griffin and Beasley. Both Brackins and McDermott are impressed by Griffin’s “motor” and passion.

“You see how passionate he is after every play,” Brackins said. “He brings it every possession.”

Brackins will try to match that passion, although he said he wants to make sure to play within himself.

“I think just play the way I have been playing,” Brackins said. “Just play my game, don’t rush anything, and don’t try to do anything extra.”

In order to keep up with the Oklahoma, the Cyclones will most likely need a big game from Brackins, but that will not be easy against a big and talented Oklahoma front court. McDermott still believes that Brackins will be able to be effective.

“Kansas’s front line wasn’t too bad and he had a great game against them,” McDermott said. “Now, obviously there are more bodies with Oklahoma that have size and strength that they are going to run at Craig. But Craig has done a better job this year of reading the double team and getting it out of there and creating opportunities for his teammates.”

Although Brackins and Griffin play the same position, it is unlikely that they will be playing against each other one on one very often in this game as both players will see a lot of double-teams on Saturday.

“You can’t guard Blake Griffin one on one, there is nobody in the country that can,” McDermott said.